Friday, February 26, 2010

That Jason Plummer is a real looker

A few months back I took note of how common it is for politicians to promise on the stump that they will “look” at an issue, rather than to say specifically what they plan to do about it if elected. But no one I quoted was as relentlessly speculative as Jason Plummer, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, was Thursday evening when he was interviewed on WTTW-Channel 11’s “Chicago Tonight” program.

“I think that you have to look at several things,” Plummer said when host Phil Ponce asked him what, specifically, he thought should be cut from the state budget. “I think you have to look at merging certain programs. I think you have to look at the Medicaid program, I think you have to look at the way that that's structured. I think we have to look at what I like to call really the um,” Here he paused. “A lot of people say when it comes to Medicaid 10 to 12 percent maybe 15 percent of it's fraudulent. Why aren't we investigating that? There are savings there. Why aren't we looking at programs like the uh---“

What followed was an awkward gap of nearly 20 seconds during which Plummer couldn’t come up with the name of the next program he wanted to look at or even a single word. Ponce tried to help – “education?” he asked helpfully – before changing topics. Plummer went on to finish the interview by mentioning seven more things he felt should be looked at.

In a way it’s the perfect verb for a prospective lite gov, who will probably spend four years looking at but not touching the legislative process in Springfield, where he will be a highly paid cipher. What possible difference could it make, after all, which “certain programs” he might want to examine for their merger potential?

Still, those running for a real office ought to look at forswearing “look at” statements during the upcoming campaign. Most of them have it it backwards. Look at the issues, then tell us what you’re going to do.

That had to be the most awkward interview ever. Jason just stammered and stammered. At 27 he is clearly not prepared, nor qualified, to be Lt. Gov. His family money, and the advertising it bought, is the only reason he won over the qualified and articulate State Senator Matt Murphy.

About "Change of Subject."

"Change of Subject" by Chicago Tribune op-ed columnist Eric Zorn contains observations, reports, tips, referrals and tirades, though not necessarily in that order. Links will tend to expire, so seize the day. For an archive of Zorn's latest Tribune columns click here. An explanation of the title of this blog is here. If you have other questions, suggestions or comments, send e-mail to ericzorn at gmail.com.
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Contributing editor Jessica Reynolds is a 2012 graduate of Loyola University Chicago and is the coordinator of the Tribune's editorial board. She can be reached at jreynolds at tribune.com.